# Incident 20260306002049I: Piper Aircraft Inc PA-28-181, Mesa, AZ, March 6, 2026

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: March 6, 2026, 14:08 local time
- Place: Mesa, AZ
- Airport: Falcon Field Airport
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Landing: Touchdown
- Operating rules: Pilot school (Part 141)
- Operator: B4VS
- Location: 33.4608° N, 111.7283° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at FALCON FLD (FFZ), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=33.4608&lon=-111.7283&mi=10
- Aircraft: N4403N (not matched to a registry record)
- Reported make and model: PIPER AIRCRAFT INC PA-28-181
- Reported engine: LYCOMING O-360-A4M
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Student
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20260306002049I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

DURING A STUDENT SOLO LANDING, THE STUDENT PILOT REPORTED MAINTAINING THE PROPER GLIDE PATH TO THE RUNWAY.   UPON REACHING THE THRESHOLD. THE PILOT FLARED AND REDUCED POWER TO IDLE. UPON TOUCHDOWN,  THE PILOT APPLIED FIRM BRAKING. THE PILOT REPORTED APPLYING GREATER PRESSURE ON THE RIGHT BRAKE AND OBSERVED THE AIRCRAFT BEGINNING TO DRIFT LEFT OF THE RUNWAY CENTERLINE. THE PILOT CONTINUED BRAKING AS THE AIRCRAFT DEPARTED THE LEFT SIDE OF THE RUNWAY AND PARTIALLY ENTERED A DITCH.

THE AIRCRAFT SUBSEQUENTLY PIVOTED AND CAME TO REST FACING THE RUNWAY AFTER THE PROPELLER STRUCK RUNWAY EDGE LIGHTING, RESULTING IN A NOTCH IN THE PROPELLER.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

---
OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.